CPI(M)’s future in limbo as joint meeting ends inconclusively

Nervousness of state CPI(M) leaders to go alone without Congress has once again come out in the open, with state committee leaders severely criticising the Politburo and the Central Committee for their recommendation to cut alliance with Congress.

This is for the first time since the inception of the party in 1964, that a state committee has openly flouted the decision of the Central Committee. The Central Committee had earlier said that the decision to have political alliance with Congress in West Bengal was “not in consonance with its decision”. It had asked the Politburo to rectify the state unit’s stand. All the Politburo members were on Sunday present at the state committee meeting.

Unable to accept the hard reality that the party had faced disaster in the Assembly election with having only 26 seats in the 294 member of the West Bengal Assembly, the pro-alliance leaders decided to follow the policy of “hit out or get out”.

Without naming Prakash Karat, a state committee member, said that it would be wrong to control West Bengal from Delhi through a remote control. “Every state has its own political scenario. West Bengal is different from Kerala and Tripura and so the political situation developing here should be judged differently. Nowhere in the party documents is it written that for every state the same decision would follow. We should judge a political scenario keeping in mind the political situation that is developing in an area. Alliance with Congress is justified and the party would have faced a more difficult situation had the alliance not been there,” he said.

All this drama happened in front the politburo members who are unable to take a harsh stand to avoid split in the party. It is to be seen how the rectification of the committee’s decision to have alliance with Congress is implemented. Sunday’s meeting ended inconclusively. It has deeper political implications as the Front partners have already criticised CPI(M) for having ties with Congress and decided not to call the latter in any of its programmes.

Political analysts said that if politburo and central committee did not take any firm decision on the issue it would amount to support the local units on local issues and that would destroy the party’s basic philosophy. They said the spilt of the party with CPI which took in 1964 November started several months ago and the present situation was heading towards that. Already several district committee, zonal committee and local committee members along with party’s rank and file have joined Trinamool Congress and this would continue unabated leading to the virtual collapse of the party.